Skip the navigation
)
News

Epsilon a victim of spear-phishing attack, says report

Massive data breach was the result of a phishing attack that was disclosed publicly about four months ago, Australian site reports

April 7, 2011 12:50 PM ET

Computerworld - The massive data breach at email service provider Epsilon may have been caused by a targeted spear-phishing campaign that the company should have known about for at least four months, Australian newspaper ITNews reported today.

According to the Haymarket Media publication, Epsilon and Atlanta-based Silverpop, another email service provider that recently disclosed a breach, were both victims of a series of social-engineering attacks directed specifically against email service providers.

ITNews reported that Epsilon should have known about the threat at least since last Nov. 24, when Return Path, a company that it uses for services such as tracking email delivery, issued an alert about the phishing attacks.

The alert, issued by Return Path senior director of security strategy Neil Schwartzman, warned of a "serious phishing attack" directed at email service providers, direct mailers and some gaming sites.

According to Schwartzman's note, phishing emails were targeted "100% at staff responsible for email operations" at more than 100 service providers.

"These targets have received emails typically with content that mentions the staffer by name, and purports to be from a couple, presumably friends or co-workers," Schwartzman wrote in the alert.

The phishing attacks were sent to the targets from several different systems, including online greeting card sites, and via a botnet, Schwartzman had warned.

The spam email messages contained a link which took users to a malicious site from where particularly nasty malware would be downloaded to the user's system.

The malware associated with the phishing campaign included Win32.BlkIC.IMG, which disabled anti-virus software, a Trojan keylogger called iStealer, which was used to steal passwords, and an administration tool called CyberGate, which is used to gain gain complete remote control of compromised systems, Schwartzman said in the alert.

"This is an organized, deliberate, and destructive attack clearly intent on gaining access to industry-grade email deployment systems," had warned in the note. "Further, the potential consequences should ESP client mailing lists be compromised at this time of the year is unimaginable."

It's not clear whether anyone at Epsilon, or Silverpop saw the alert, or how they may have responded if they did.

Neither email service provider responded to a Computerworld request for comment today.

According to ITNews, the breaches at Silverpop and Epsilon in the weeks that followed were caused by spear these phishing attacks.

Laura Atkins, founding partner at Word to the Wise, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based consultant that helps email providers manage mailing risks, said it's hard to tell if the breach at Epsilon was caused by the phishing attacks that Return Path cited in its security alert.

"There certainly were a series of attacks on different email service providers back in November last year," Atkins said. "It's unclear if this was the result of those same attacks. Epsilon has not been very open about the breach."



What is Tech Briefcase?
TechBriefcase is a new, free service where IT Professionals can Search, Store and Share IT white papers and content like this. Learn more
Bookmark content
Speed up your research efforts with content across the web.
Search and Store
Find the white papers you need. Create folders for any topic.
View Anywhere
Open your briefcase on your iPhone, tablet or desktop. Share with colleagues.
Don't have an account yet?
Additional Resources
Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Driving Secure Enterprise File Sharing and Syncing in the Enterprise
GroupLogic's new activEcho is the industry's only secure Enterprise File Sharing and Synching solution that balances the need for simplicity for the end...
The Enterprise File Sharing Option
Enterprises and IT departments need to address several critical security issues when considering file sharing and syncing products. Many of today's solutions do...
Security Strategies to Virtualizing Internet-Facing Applications
The IT organization at Intel has set a goal to transition their enterprise to a private cloud for their Office and Enterprise applications....
Cloud Security Planning Guide
Cloud security considerations span protecting hardware and platform technologies in the data center to enabling regulatory compliance and defending cloud access through different...
Cloud Security Vendor Round Table
This vendor round table guide will help you to evaluate different cloud technology vendors and service providers based on a series of questions...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Data Privacy and Protection in Production Environments: New Research from Ponemon Institute
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT

In a recent study conducted by Ponemon Institute, fifty-five percent of respondents...
Data Privacy and Protection in Production Environments: New Research from Ponemon Institute
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT

In a recent study conducted by Ponemon Institute, fifty-five percent of respondents...
Security Certifications 101 - BlackBerry and all those acronyms what do they mean and why they matter?
FIPS, Common Criteria, CAPS, AISEP, NFC, NIST, Fraunhofer SIT, CESG, DSD - these are just some of the government and industry certifications which...
BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Security Overview
The presentation provides an overview of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 security capabilities and features, including: BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, BlackBerry® Bridge, data-at-rest protection, and...
BlackBerry NFC Security Overview
The presentation on NFC security will provide an overview of the security protections built into the BlackBerry platform to protect users, application developers...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs